HIV/AIDS Awareness Week
- EFN Staff | November 25, 2013
Activities to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan will be taking place across the province starting today and culminating in World AIDS Day on December 1. This year's theme is "Are You Positive You're Negative?", emphasizing the importance of getting tested no matter the outcome.
The following week, Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week will be marked.
According to AIDS Saskatoon, last year the province reported 177 new HIV cases, down five percent from the previous year. However, Saskatchewan's infection rate per capital is still ahead of all other Canadian provinces.
Thirty-one-year-old Krista Shore was diagnosed with HIV when she was 24, and she thought it was a death sentence. Now, she knows it's not, and she uses her diagnosis to help others by being the Voice for Aboriginal People Living with HIV at All Nations Hope in Regina.
"I hope that by sharing my story, our women can be encouraged to get tested regularly, that our people will use safety measures like condoms and clean drug equipment."
Shore remembers the pain and fear she felt when she was diagnosed but says people must remain hopeful.
"I do this work because I envision a young girl, sitting on that medical table being told that she's diagnosed and feeling like her life is over. But I want people to know that your life doesn't have to be over."
To kick off HIV/AIDS Awareness Week in Prince Albert, the Prince Albert Métis Women's Association will be holding a ribbon-cutting in the foyer of City Hall. Painting of the Memory Wall begins today as well, and it will be unveiled at the end of Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week, which runs the following week from December 2 to 6.
In Saskatoon, a section of the Canadian AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display at Mayfair United Church from November 25 to December 3 to preserve the memory of those who lost to HIV/AIDS. The Memorial Quilt can be viewed Monday, November 25 to Friday, November 29 from 9 a.m. to noon, Tuesday the 26th and Thursday the 28th from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., and Monday, December 2 and Tuesday December 3 from 9 a.m. to noon.
There will also be presentations throughout the week at the University of Saskatchewan, culminating in a two candlelight vigils in Saskatoon on World AIDS Day, as well as a walk from the Prince Albert Courthouse to City Hall.
For more information on HIV/AIDS Awareness Week activities, visit AIDS Saskatoon and Prince Albert Métis Women's Association.